



f 



: 184 

.H14 

Copy ^ , 

AN ADDRESS 



DELIVERED IN 



The Senate Chamber of Maryland, 



BEFORE 



'^ The Association of the Theta Delta Phi'> 



ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, 
4th Jui;.y, 1837. 



THOIflAS HOLUE HAG]\ER, A. B. 

AN HOirORART HEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATIOS'. 



ANNAPOLIS : 
PRINTED BY J. HUGHES. 

1837. 



Annapolis, July 8th, 1837. 

^ Dear Sin :■ — 

'^ We have the honor to communicate to you the following Resolution 

passed by the Association of the Theta Delta Phi, on the 7th instant. 

"Resolved vnanimoii^lij, That a Committee be appointed to present the 
thanks of this Society to Thomas H. Hagner, Esq., for the able and elo- 
quent Address delivered by him on the 4th inst,, and that he be requested 
to furnish a copy for publication." 

In performing this pleasing duty, permit us to express the gratification 
we will derive from your compliance with this request. 

With sentiments of high respect, 

Your obedient servants, ' 

HENRY H. GOLDSBOROUGH,) 
WILLIAM H. G. DORSEY, ' V Committee. 
REVERDY GHISELIN, ■. /• > 

To Mr. Thomas H. Haoner. 



Annapolts, 8th July, 1837. 

Gentlemen : — 

I have received your favor of this date, and in compliance with the 
request ot the Association, place in your hands the Address I recently deli- 
vered before them; I would it were less unworthy of the occasion and the subject. 
At the same time that I gratefully acknowledge these renewed expressions of 
the collective kindness of the Association, I cannot forbear presenting my 
thanks to you. Gentlemen, personally, ior their -friendly conveyance. 

Believe me most tiuly, your's, ^ .^ 

THOMAS H. HAGNER. * v ^ 

To Messrs. Hf.nrt H. Goldsborocgh, J 

" Wm. H. G. DoiisEr, C Committee. 

«' Reverdt Ghiselin, S 



ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen of the Association of the Theta Delta Phi : — 

To unite in the celebration of this day is the motive of 
my presence on this occasion. The honor of this appoint- 
ment I duly appreciate, while the difficulty of its execution 
I fully realize. To your indulgence then I must look for 
supporting me in the one, as to your favor I am indebted 
for conferring on me the other. 

The return of this day summons us here to celebrate the 
nativity of American Independence, — to recall the actions 
of our Ancestors, that we may properly estimate the debt of 
gratitude we owe them,-^ — to review the annals of our Coun- 
try's glory, that we may the better appreciate the high bless- 
ings we enjoy, — to recur to the trying scenes that gave 
birth to our Liberties, that we may the more firmly resolve 
to transmit them undiminished to those who shall succeed 
us. 

If to unfold the records of our common Country be pleas- 
ing and instructive to the grateful mind, with like benefit 
may we recount the principal events of the Colonial Histo- 
ry of one of the noblest and the brightest of ^Hhc old Thir- 
teen,^' To exiiibit the characteristic zeal of the Sons of 
Maryland in the public service, — the patriotic ardor and 
firm devotion in the maintenance of Liberty and Right, 
which stand pre-eminent in their conduct, — to mark the 
love of Country and Constitutional Freedom which stamp 
with indelible honor their illustrious names, can but give 
vigor to the emotions which on this Anniversary svvfU 
within the bosom of every American. 

The British Colonies in America from their very settle- 
ments enjoyed the principles of free Government.* But 

• 1 Winterbotham's America, 400. ' 1 Story on the Constit., 147-152, 
2 Burke's Woiks, 396, 



the extent and character of their riglits and privileges were 
varied with their several charters, and controlled hy the 
forms of their respective governments. 

The Charter of the Province of Maryland formed the 
freest of Proprietary Governments. It embodied the fun- 
damental outlines of enlightened Liberty. The Proprie- 
tary and the People possessed the whole powers of legisla- 
tion, independently of the British Crown.* The Colonists 
were regarded '*as natives and liege-men of the kingdom of 
England," entitled "freely, quietly and peaceably" to enjoy 
all "the Privileges, Franchises and Immunities of native 
Englishmen,''! and "Maryland has always enjoyed the un- 
rivalled honor of being the first colony which was erected 
into a Province of the English Empire, and governed regu- 
larly by laws enacted by a provincial legislature.":): With 
such powers of government, with such securities for their 
preservation, the political privileges of the Colonists were 
of a high order. Under the government of a wise, hu- 
mane and magnanimous Proprietary, the settlement of the 
Province was in the highest degree auspicious. The smiles 
of Heaven seemed to rest upon the undertaking, and to 
prosper the enterprise from its very inception. The Pil- 
grims of Maryland were spared the desolations of famine 
and its concomitants, disease and death, which swept away 
successive companies of earlier settlers in the wilds of Ame- 
rica, and the just conduct and conciliatory measures which 
they pursued, saved them almost entirely from the more 
deadly effects of the barbarous bostility of the Aborigines.^ 
The first cmigi'ants were therefore, for years, inhabitants of 
the land and cultivators of the soil, and gave a permanen- 
cy to the early settlement of this Province, denied to her 
less favored Sister Colonies. Tbat invincible love of civil 
and religious libeity whicji caused them to leave the op- 
pressions of the Old World, to find an asylum in the New, 
was not content with the peisonal eiijoyment here of an ex- 
panded spirit of freedom, and deep rooted independence, but 
manifested itself in affording to ail, equal toleration and 
free enjoyment of rights and privileges, exemplifying the 
generous hospitality of the Sidonian Queen to him who bore 
the last hopes of Troy, — 

" Non ignara malif miseris succurrere disco. " 



• Char, or of Maryland, 7 Art. fldem, 10 Art. ^ 1 Chalmers' A.nnajs, 200. 
§ Idem, 207. 



While the civil wars of Europe in their various success-* 
es inflicted in turn upon all sects, the horrors of intolerance 
and persecution, ''the rights of Holy Church" were here 
secured without pre-eminence or distinction by the earliest 
legislation, and the History of Maryland presents the first 
and noble example of a government founded upon the enlar- 
ged principles of perfect religious equality and general to- 
leration.* The effects of this Christian policy were soon 
apparent,— the rights of citizenship were sought for and 
eagerly embraced by emigrants from all climes who here 
found a haven from the storms of the Old World and the 
distresses of the New, and Maryland became the prosperous 
home of the Free — the secure asylum of the Oppressed. 

But the History of the Province does not present the 
same even tenor of quiet prosperity aud successful opera- 
tion. Like all early settlements it had its hours of trial — 
like all forms of government it had the elements of disorder 
mingled with those of peace. The wily machinations of a 
restless spirit settled within her borders, claiming adverse 
to her Charter, fomented jealousies between the Colonists 
and the Aborigines which ended in blood,:}: and these no 
sooner quieted, than moved by determined revenge, the 
same ^^evil genius " of the colony excited the rebellionf 
which bears his name, which for a time triumphant, assum- 
ed the reins of government, unsettled the peace and jeopar- 
ded the safety of the Colonists. These distractions gave a 
shock to the early prosperity of the colony, which was long 
felt, and whose consequences posterity has yet to deplore in 
the destruction of the early annals of their Fathers. § The 
fiendlike malignity and reckless daring which signalize the 
conduct of their prime mover, place the name of Ciay- 
BORNE upon the list of destroyers of domestic peace and so- 
cial happiness, and merit him the unenviable epithet of a 
scourge of civilized man — 

" procella patriiEy turbo, et tempestas pacis.^* 

Nor was the political horizon of the colony always cloud- 
less and serene. The early contests with the Proprietary 
though not marked by the rancor of hatred which a con- 
sciousness of deep design upon their rights begets in the 

* 2 Bozman's Md, 107-1 15. 1 Chalm. Ann., 213-19, 363. ^ A. D. 1642. 
2Bozman,212. f A. D. 1644. 2Bozman,270. 1 McMahon'sMd ,201. 
§ Idem, 202. Preface to Bacon's Law*. 



minds of a free people, were yet conducted by the most de- 
termined counsel and enliglitened forecast — contests not 
against immediate oppression or violent usurpation, but wa- 
ged in support of principles which were to stand in all suc- 
ceeding time, in defence of the integrity of the rights and 
liberties of their posterity as well as of their own. The 
administration of the first Proprietary, gentle as it was ef- 
ficient, was the very period of commencement of opposition 
to acts desmed derogatory to the present and future enjoy- 
ment of popular rights. The Colonists full well knew that 
the encroachments of power like the inroads of vice, are by 
easy gradations to the full mastery. ^ ^ Obsta princijnis " 
was the rule of their conduct, determined to afford in all 
future time, no precedent however trivial or undesigned, for 
the extension of any of the peculiar powers of government 
beyond its legitimate sphere ; and as the settled distribution 
of those powers under the Charter was essential to the hap- 
piness of all, its true construction was the first occasion of 
collision between the Proprietary and the people whose mu- 
tual rights it secured. 

The right to propound laws for enactment was left unde- 
termined by the Charter, and regarding themselves as a 
co-ordinate branch of the legislative power, the freemen in 
person had passed laws for the regulation of the province,* 
which were transmitted to the Proprietary for his action. 
Resisting the power thus exercised, his dissent to. the laws 
was declared,! and to an Assembly then convened by his 
authority he transmitted draughts of laws for their appro- 
bation and assent. By the almost unanimous rejection of 
these in turn,! the Freemen of that day established that in- 
valuable riglit of legislation, which future efforts of the Pro- 
prietary in vain attempted to impair. Though to the 
enactments of that session, the assent of the Proprietary 
was refused, the Colonists maintained their stand, and the 
Proprietary shortly after conceded to the Assembly the 
right they had exercised, and invested his Governor with 
the power of approval of their enactments, subject to his own 
dissent.§ Though the power to originate laws, was thus 
yielded to the Assembly at a time when the infant state of 
the colony demanded internal legislation, and could ill bear 

» 26 Feb. 1634-5, O. S. Chal, Ann., 211-32. 2 Boz. 33. f Commission, 
15 April, 1637, O. S. 2 Boz. 572. :tldem, p. 55. §Idem, 94-5. 



a contest for power, it was yet deemed by the Proprietary 
of vital concern to the perfect maintenance of his chartered 
rights; and he more than once attempted its exercise.* By 
making the assent of his Governor virtually the enactment, 
and his own dissent the actual repeal of laws, he attempted 
but without success to render negative the right he had con- 
ceded, and abridge tlie legislative power of the people — once 
more to pi'opound to tiie Assembly, laws for their enactment, 
and thus to resume the scheme of prerogative by him so 
chei'isiied, by them so opposed. 

The diiriculties which had hitherto occurred to diminish 
the prosperity of the colony, had their origin within her 
own borders. The violent commotions of tlie Mother 
Country however deeply interesting to her distant Sons, 
had not agitated the peace or lessened the happiness of tlie 
colonists. Unaffected by the causes which there tended to 
a civil war, they had steadily pursued their own interests 
with active industry. With them 

" All peaceful smiVd, all save the passing clouds 
That often hang on Freedom' s jealous broiv. " 

But the execution of Charles the First introduced an impor- 
tant jera in the Colonial History of Maryland. By the re- 
cognition of the Prince of Wales t!ic hitherto neutral course 
of the colony was relinquished, and she thereby inciirred 
the provisions of the Act of the Commonwealth Parliament, 
" to reduce all such colonies to obedience as stood in opposi- 
tion " to its authority. The Proprietary was deprived of 
his Government, and the powers he had so ably administer- 
ed were placed in the hands of Parliamentary Commission- 
ers.! 

The establishment of the Commonwealth aathority was 
regarded with far different feelings by different portions of 
the colonists of Maryland. The Puritan settlers who when 
driven from Virginia had here found a secure asylum from 
the violence of oppression, now viper-like, stung the very 
hand that nursed and supported their destitute existence. 
They flocked to the standard of the Commonwealth, to the 
delegated power of the commissioners rendered a ready obe- 
dience, and the first attempt by the Proprietary Governor 
to resume hi^ power, served but to afford them aa occasion 

* 2 Boz., 267-S, 340. jUem, 413-34. 5 Thurloes' State Papers, 483. 
o 



10 

for intolerant measures in retaliation for what they deemed 
hostile intent. The intolerant legislation of the Mother 
Country became the guide for their own, and produced dis- 
criminations adverse to the settled policy of the colony.^ 
And when events in England which augured the overthrow 
of the Protectorate, induced one more attempt to re-esta- 
blish Proprietary power, contests violent and vindUtive led 
to its utter overthrow. And we here stand in sight of that 
spot where the earth drank the blood of victims of religi- 
ous warfare.! ^Vhile as lovers of our country, as advocates 
of equal rights and enlightened j)»;licy, we reprobate these 
acts and deplore their consequences, w^e have yet abundant 
cause for joy in the reflection, that that day has long since 
passed by, and that in a country of equal laws and equal 
privileges, religious distinctions have no countenance or 
support. 

With the downfall of the Commonwealth in England, the 
Proprietary government of Maryland w as resumed ; and 
upon the full tide of its happy rule, civil, quiet and equal 
participation in the rights and powers of government was 
restored, and Maryland again became the abiding place of 
peace and happiness, the sure attendants of good govern- 
ment. For thirty years that peace remained unbroken^ 
that happiness undiminished, that government united. 

The accession of the despotic James the Second to the 
British Throne is marked by attempts as well against Co- 
lonial Rights as English Liberties. Tliis enemy of free 
governments of whatever form, declared the existence of in- 
dependent administrations in the colonies to be of great and 
glowing prejudice, and he designed their destruction. Ma- 
ryland was maiked for his victim. To bring her govern- 
ment to the wished for dependence upon the crown, a qua 
"ivarranto was issued to vacate her cliarter,! but disaffection 
and revolt recalled him from tyrannical attempts abroad to 
answer for those at home — to secure his own safety by 
throwing aside the reins of government. 

But a more eventful period now arrived — a period when 
the high condition of the colony was again abated, and the 
prominent principles established at its foundation brought 
low. ** An association of the colonists in arms for the de- 
fence of the Protestant religion, and for asserting the right 

•Bacon's Laws, 1654, ch. 4, 2 Boz. 512. f Battle of the Severn, 
25 March, 1655, O. S. 2 Boz. 520-6. 4 1 Hoi, Ann., A. D, 1687. 



11 

of William and Mai-y to the Proviacc of Maryland," de* 
prived the Proprietary of his government.* The strong ex-' 
citing causes which produced its organization are hid in 
mystery, and we reason of their existence only from their 
effects. But wlien success had attended this combined pow-' 
er, the long and arduous attempts to re-establish the depos- 
ed James on the throne of England, excited jealousies 
among the colonists not easily removed, and created distinc- 
tions which time only could efface. The Proprietary of 
Mai'yland and all who acknowledged and supported his 
riglits, became identified with the opponents of the enthron- 
ed King wlm were principally of like persuasion with them- 
selves, and these were the circumstances which prolonged 
the suspension of Proprietary power. His efficient admin- 
istration was superceded first by a convention of the Peo- 
ple, and then at their request by successive Governors ap- 
pointed by the Crown, f while prejudice and rancor took 
the place of mutual concord and universal harmony, and po- 
litical disfranchisement and religious intolerance prevailed, 
where perfect equality of rights and privileges had reigned 
supreme. " Attempts to deprive the colonists of their lives, 
properties and liberties," vvith harsh denunciation, and bit- 
ter invective were imputed to the Pi'oprietary by tongues 
which sliortly before dwelt with fervor upon his lenity, and 
invoked benedictions forliis enlightened government. Fi-om 
this period to the American Revolution, there was an esta- 
blished Church in the Province, and though the rigors of in- 
tolerance were from time to time assuaged, as the feelings in 
which it had its origin were dissipated, they were never en- 
tirely done away — the very sect to which the Founder of the 
Province had been attached, was the \cvy last to be leleased 
from the severities of a system antipodal to his own ! 

The last years of the reign of William were marked by 
the attempt and failure to break down the Colonial Govern- 
ments, by destroying their Charters and subjecting them 
unconditionally to the Crown. The benefit of the trade of 
England was the declared object, the security of the depen- 
dence of the colonies the real design of the effort, — a design 
which though suspended during the mild reign of the good 
Queen Anne, was revived by the corrupt ministry of George 
the First. The attempt was then made vvith so great pro- 
bability of success, that the united efforts of the colenists 



» 1 McMahon's MJ., 237. f Idem, 2 10-2. 



12 
• 

and tlie Proprietaries were strained to the utmost to accoin- 
I)lish its defeat. Tiie Proprietary of Maryland had just 
then been restored, for in his person the religious differences 
which occasioned the sus{)ension of his Grandfather's rights 
had been reconciled.* In the support of his power now 
threatened with overthrow from another quarter, in defence 
of the liberties of the colonists once more assaulted, the 
Province co-operated with her sister colonies; their efforts 
were successful and this violent expedient to rob them of 
their rights was laid aside for ever. 

During the changes which had thus been wrought in the 
general condition as in the executive power of the colony, 
Maryland lost none of her political liberties. In all these 
vicissitudes they had been preserved, the objects of a more 
than vestal fidelity. In the manly assertion of every right 
— in the jealous defence of every power — in the full redress 
of every grievance, the vigorous talents of her legislators 
were ever enlisted. 

In the midst of the ])i'ospcrity wliich these wise counsels 
superinduced, the Mother Country became engaged in hos- 
tilities with her ancient enemy, and her colonies were call- 
ed upon to aid in the desti'uctiojj of the French power in 
America. With no interest at stake, at a distance from the 
scene of action, to enter upon an unknown contest for terri- 
tory or power, the Delegates of Maryland did not deem 
right or requisite, while they avowed an ever willing cheer- 
fulness to repel hostile invasion, and defend the neighbor- 
ing: colonies. But when tiie fierceness of the contest did 
demand her aid, her General Assembly practically proved 
their readiness to co-operate in the defence,! but unfortu- 
nate disagreements betv»een its branches in providing in- 
creased means of assistance, rendered subsequent measures 
wholly inefficient, and Maryland took no further part in 
the contest till the campaign of 1756. The times then 
did not admit of controversies at home, — a waiver of 
the subject matter of dispute, supplies were jointly voted; 
hut that immediate exigency passed, the dangers vvlii( h had 
environed removed, the further willingness of Maryland to 
lend a hand in the entire extinction of the French power in 
Canada, was rendered unavailing by a lenewal of contro- 
versies deemed to involve popular rights. The inefficiency 
of the quota system as thus proved by the irregularity with 

* 1 McMahon's Md., 269-271. ] Act of Assembly, 1754, ch. 9. 



13 

which demands on the colonies had heen met. was the chief 
cause of the parliamentary measures which followed the 
Peace of 1763, and the peculiar reasons for the course of the 
colonies offered little justification in the eyes of England. 
The scrutiny with which the Provincial legislatures had act- 
ed upon parliamentary requisitions di-rplayed in no pleasing 
colours the essential freedom of the colonial governments. 
To reduce tliem to dependence was now the object of Parlia- 
ment; — fuliy to developc the means by which it was at- 
tempted to be attained, a view of the mutual relations of 
England with the colonies of America is requisite. 

To keep t!ie colonial trade to themselves had been declar- 
ed their right, as it was deemed their policy by the people 
of England, and their Acts of Parliament were framed with 
that view. The Navigation Act ( 12 Car. II. c. 18.) by 
which the system was commenced, had for its object the 
defeat of the carrying trade with the colonies, in which 
Holland was then so lucratively and so deeply engaged, and 
was followed by various acts imposed with similar designs, 
hut operating more rigidly upon the colonies.* To the mo- 
nopoly of their fore!gn trade, the mutual coasting trade of 
the colonies, hitherto free and unincumbered, was made to 
succumb. To encourage those of England, the exportation 
of American manufactures was rigidly ])rohibited,f while 
certain raw material, the produce of the colonies, was admit- 
ted into England duty free, and even bounties grarsted upon 
its growth and importation.^ To prevent competition on 
other articles, duties were imposed, while the colonial ports 
afforded a free market for British produce and British ma- 
nufactures. And to enforce strict obedience to these laws 
of trade, the penalties for their breach were made recovera- 
ble in any Court of Record or Adniiralty, in the colony 
where the offence should be committed, or in any Vice-Ad- 
miralty Court appointed by the Crown over all America, 
" af the election of the informer or prosecutor.'* This Act 
( 4 Geo. III. c. 15,) threatening to deprive the colonists of 
the cherished right of trial by jury, and to subject them to 
a judicial tribunal out of their own colony, necessarily in- 
creased the causes of discontent already general, and the 



* 13 & 14 Car. II, c. 11. 15 Car. II, c, 7. 22 «& 23 Car, 11, c. 26. 25 Car, 
II, c, 7. 1 Jac. II, c. 4. 7 W. Ill, c. 10 & 22. 7 & 8 W. Ill, c. 22. 
10 «& 11 W. Ill, c. 21. 3 «& 4 Ann. c. 5. 8 Ann. c. 13. 6 Geo. IF, 
c. 13. 30 Geo. II, c. 9. f 5 Geo. II, c. 22, :t 8 Geo. I, c. 13. 23 Geo, 
II, c. 20 & 29. 34 Geo. II, c. 51 . 4 Geo, III, c. 26. 



14 

destruction of their lucrative commerce with the West In* 
dies, consequent uppn the imposition of duties demanded in 
specie, with the sudden extinction of the paper currency 
which soon followed, were restraints so rigid and so injuri- 
ous in their effects, as well nigh produced an open rupture 
with the Mother Country.* 

But though tliis system of monopoly proved as prejudici- 
al to tliose who hore its restraints, as it was profitable to 
those for whose benefit they were imposed, it was yet avow-- 
ediy for the legulation of trade and not for the acquisition 
of revenue. Tliougli regarded by some colonies as a viola- 
tion of their rights, by others as arbitrary and oppressive, 
by all as impolitic and detrimental to their interests, it had 
for its sole object the extension of British trade, the increase 
of BritisJj manufactures : if counteracted in its effects, its 
existence was yet suffered; if not strictly obeyed, it was not 
openly violated; if not admitted as a right,it was not resist- 
ed as a wrong. But a distinction was then drawn, which 
was never suffered to be done away — the limits of parlia- 
mentary power were then set, never to be extended, 

'■^ fines, 
Quos ultra citraque nequit considere rectum.^'' 

The powers of internal regulation and self-government, 
had never been surrendered- — the valued right of internal 
taxation was yet untouciied. Though such a scheme had 
been hinted at, it had never yet been seriously contemplated 
to draw a levenue from the colonies by direct parliamentary 
taxation. I Near the close of the seventeenth century, this 
idea had been started, but it was not then relished even by 
the people of England. It received at the time, a refutation 
of distitiguishing clearness, argument and force, upon the 
ground then taken and ever maintained, that taxation and 
representation are inseparable — that as the colonies were 
not rej)resented in, neither could they be taxed by Parlia- 
ment, without their consent; ''and men were not startled at 
the doctrine, as either new, illegal or derogatory to the rights 
of parliament.":!^ The war with Spain, of 1738, re-anima- 
ted the monstrous proposal, and brought its odious features 
to the review of the then Minister, Walpole. His answer, 
while it illustrates the progress of parliamentary encroach- 
ment, reflects the principles of that statesman. Anxious to 

• 4 Geo. Ill, c. 34. Hist. Civ. War in Amer. 46-9. f 2 Burke's Works, 392. 
+ 1 Holmes' Ann. A. D. 1696. \ Lord Camden's speech, April, 1766. 



15 

secure to his country the most extensive advantages from 
the colonies, he yet saw in the projected scheme, something 
he wished not to handle — something he thought as danger- 
ous, as he deemed it impolitic. "I will leave that for some 
of my successors," said he, "who may have more courage 
than I have, and he less a friend to commerce than I am.'* 
To encourage an extensive growing commerce of the colo- 
nies, he regarded as England's true jjolicy, thus affording 
an ever increasing demand for the labour and produce of 
England. "This (said he) is taxing them more agreeably 
to their own constitution and ours.''* But the system he 
approved, underwent a change — the foreign trade of tiie 
colonies succeeding administrations, we have seen, thought 
fit to restrain, but "none of tiiese,'' in the words of the most 
eloquent defender of American rights, "none of these 
thought or ever dreamed of robbing the colonies of their 
constitutional rights," 

But other councils were now^ to administer the govern- 
ment of England. The condition of the colonies had ex- 
cited the envy as it attracted the eyes of all Europe. Their 
trade had increased in spite as well of the restraints of the 
mother country, as of the frontier distress of their own.f 
The ravages of the Indian and French war had passed 
away. The colonists "had beaten their swords into plough- 
shares, and their spears into pi'uning-hooks," and the wide 
field where individual enterprise had found full employ, and 
public spirit met its rich reward, had again been entered 
upon with vigor, and a whole country manifested the happy 
influences of their combined activity. Colonial legislation 
vied with that of older and longer settled governments, and 
was W'orthy of a later age. Peace, prosperity and happi- 
ness, "shed their mingled delights ai-ound tliem." Yet 
the midst of that peace, the height of that prosperity, the 
fullness of that happiness, was deemed the favorable mo- 
ment for tiie establishment of a system, in theory as mon- 
strous, as in practice it would have been arbitrary, and "the 
defrayment of the expenses" of that very war, by whose 
ravages they had lost so much, and to whose successful 
issue they had so lai-gely contributed, was made the pretext 
of imposing a direct parliamentary taxation which should 
know no end, and the "defending, protecting and securing" 

* Annual Register for 1765. f 1 Pitkin's U. S. 155. 



16 

the colonies, tlie avowed ground of raising a revenue to 
which was set no limit. 

The principles now asserted by Parliament, were in di- 
rect conflict with the chartered powers of the Province of 
Maryland ^ secured by the most solemn compact with the 
Crown, at war with the established rights of the whole 
people of America, guaranteed them as British subjects, 
sanctiojied ly use for more than a century, and hallowed 
and revered by the fondest associations. It was upoi> a 
people — members of the same gseat family — brethren in 
name, in language, in blood, — it was upon such a pc(vple 
that Parliament sought to fix a sjstem which should clamp 
their enterpiizt , paialyse their energies, exhaust their re- 
sources, and ri\et still firmer the bonds of colonial depen- 
dence. And with the same bitter mockery of favor, with 
which the Dc»pot gives to the wretched victim of his re- 
morseless cruelty the choice of the mode of death, the propos- 
ed taxation by stamps was preceded by the inquiry of the colo- 
nies, ''whethci' any other duty equally productive and more 
agreeable to them, could be substituted,*'! — the very life- 
blood to be drawn from their bodies, the means or the in- 
strument were equally indifferent to those to be glutted by 
its fatness. But "the ease, quiet and good will" of the 
colonies, to which willing accommodation was avowed, were 
as little consulted in the rigorous mode of its enforcement, 
as their chartered rights and privileges were regarded in 
the imposition of the Stamp act. The trial by jury, — the 
palladium of the liberty — the sure defence of the property — 
the real security to the life of the citizen, was here to be 
done away, and couits of admiialty bound to the colonists 
by no tie of honor or of interest, but dependent upon the en- 
forcement of tyrannical impositions for their very existence 
and support, were made the arbiters of their rights. 

The system of commercial restriction so long used, and 
fio well tested had filled the exchequer of England, and 
built up the private fortunes of her citizens. "The funds 
raised by commerce with the colonies (said Mr. Pitt,) car- 
ried England triumphantly through the French War," and 
it was in contemplation of the rich harvest thus yielded 
Britich enterprise, and of the disastrous consequences of 
its disruption by the imposition of internal taxation, that 
the same great statesman exclaimed with eloquent indigna- 

• 30 Art. Charter of Md. f ^ Franklin's Works, 304. 



17 

tion and withering sarcasm, ^'and sliall a miserable financier 
come with a boast that he can fetcii a pepper coi'n into the 
excliequer to the loss of millions to the nation?" 

But in spite of the strongest representations of its im- 
policy, and the m>3st convincing proof of its unconstitution- 
ality there, in spite of the most urgent declarations, of its 
illegality and tlie most eloquent remonstrances against its 
high handed severity here, in spite of opposition of what- 
ever sort, where, from -whom, or how incurred, with all its 
errors upon its head, the Stamp Act was passed, * and pass- 
ed, it received the royal assent. Looking to its ultimate en- 
forcement, it was followed up by the immediate quartering 
of British troops in the colonies: — wliile one hand was ex- 
tended to receive the extorted exaction, the other grasped 
the sword to enforce submission. In America the announce- 
ment of its intended imposition, but served to arouse the 
stronger spirit of indignation at its passage, and the inter- 
val of its prospective action, but gave time to offer the more 
determined resistance to its mandates. Public assemblies 
put forth denunciations the most eloquent, resolves the most 
determined in opposition, while the Merchants of the larger 
cities, whose patriotism prcfered the public weal to private 
emolument, entered into engagements not to import goods 
from England, till its repeal; from one end of the continent 
to the other, the love of civil liberty strengthened the nerve 
and animated the hearts of the colonists. The citizens of 
Maryland displayed most patriotic spirit,! and to their re- 
solves and individual associations the action of the Province 
was for a time necessarily conflned. Her assembly pro- 
rogued even before the premeditation of its passage, was 
not again convoked by the Governor until six months after 
the imposition of the Stamp Act, but when convened, its 
first duty to send commissioners to the proposed Congress 
of the colonies "to consider their rights, and demand redress 
for their violation," was performed with alacrity, and they 
were instructed:}; '*to pray relief from the burdens and restric- 
tions on trade and commerce, but especially from the stamp 
duties, and to take care that their representations should 
humbly and decently, but expressly, contain an assertion of 
K^ 

* 5 GeoTc. 12. f Vide Declaration of Freemen of Talbot Co. 1 Pitkins 
189, and Instructions to Delegates from A. A. Go. Md. Gazette, 24 Oct. 
1765. 1 McMahon, 343. f Votes and Proceedings, House of Del. Sept. 
35, 1765, P. 5. 

3 



18 

tlie right of the coionists to he exempt from aii and 
every taxations and impositions, upon their persons and 
property to which they do not consent by themselves 
or their representatives." And by explicit legislative 
action, they asserted the liberties and immunities of 
English subjects to be their undoubted birthright, and de- 
clared "that the representatives of tiie freemen of tliis 
province in their legislative capacity, have the sole right to 
lay taxes and impositions on the inhabitants of this Pro- 
vince or their property and effects, and that any tax upon 
the inhabitants of Maryland, under the colour of any other 
authority is unconstitutional and a direct violation of the 
rights of the freemen.''* The acts of that assembly speak 
volumes in commendation of the talents and patriotism of 
the men who composed it, while they clearly declare the 
principles upon which colonial rights were founded. 

The first Colonial Congress had convened. A declara- 
tion of rights, a manifesto of grievances, a petition to Par- 
liament, an address to the Crown were the able State 
/ Papers put forth by that body. Their proceedings were 
/ now unanimously approved by the Assembly of Maryland,! 

I and highly commended by all the colonies. The constitu- 

* tlonal rights of the colonies thus asserted, the limits of par- 

liamentary power thus defined, there w as no longer room to 
doubt the determined support of either. But the statesmen 
of America did not confine their efforts to Provincial Assem- 
blies or Legislative Halls. Tiieir pens were ever active, 
\ their tongues were ever eloquent in enlightening the public 

i mind. From Massachusetts to Georgia zealous champions 

\ of liberty proclaimed that liberty must be preserved. 
Daniel Dulany, one of Maryland's most gifted sons, de- 
monstrated the illegality of the Stamp Act, and devised the 
remedy in the native independence and domestic industry of 

Cthe colonies. "Let the manufacture of America (said he) 
be the symbol of dignity, the badge of virtue, and it w ill soon 
break the fetters of distress. A garment of linscy-w oolscy, 
when made the distinction of patriotism, is more honorable 
and attractive of respect and veneration than all the pagean- 
try and the robes and the plumes and the diadem of an em- 
peror without it. Let the emulation be not in tiie^ichness 
and variety of foreign productions but in the impi«ovement 
and perfection of our own — let it be demonstrated that the 

« Idem, September 28, 1765. t Idem, 27, Nov. 1 765. 



19 

subjects of the British empire in Europe and Jlmeriea are 
the same, that the hardships of the latter will ever recoil 
upon the former." And with patriotic fervor he appealed 
to his fellow citizens, "with vigor and spirit and alacrity, 
to bid defiance to tyranny ; by exposing its impotence, by 
making it as contemptible as it would be detestable."* 

Tims made cognizant of their rights, the people of Mary* 
land could not look on unmoved while the integrity of their 
charter was threatened. And the arrival of the Stamp Dis- 
tributor for the Province was every where marked by pro- 
ceedings indicative as well of determined resistance to the 
act itself, as of uncompromising detestation of the traitor 
to free principles and his native State commissioned to im- 
pose it, — proceedings not of a licentious populace crying 
aloud for vengeance and eager for blood, — but of men of 
character and virtue attached by the tics of affection to the 
soil they would save unpolluted, and of birtli-right to the 
liberties they would preserve inviolate; — and that soil was 
saved unpolluted — those liberties were preserved inviolate.. 
The Stamp Act was never carried in force in Maryland: for 
fear of its destruction, the paper upon wliich the duties were 
to be levied was never brought within her confines. The 
sei'vile tool of arbitrary power, clothed with the authority, 
lacked the moral courage to venture upon its enforcement— 

'■'■rohur et ces triplex 
Circa pectus,^^ 

the requisites even for the attempt at its execution upon such 
men, he did not possess, and fearful lest the high spirit of 
t!ie colonists, while it bade defiance to the act, might *'visit 
too roughly" the destined instrument of its fulfilment he 
fled the province. "He was the first and last Stamp Dis- 
tributor of Maryland," says the historian. f And to render 
its overthrow complete — to eradicate even the semblance of 
compliance with the act of Parliament, an association of the 
citizens of Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Kent counties un- 
der the style of Sons of Liberty, met at the seat of govern- 
ment for the avowed |)urpose of removing the cause of the 
pai'tial suspension of public affairs, by coiupcHing the olli- 
cers to transact business without stamped paper.ij; Applica- 
tion then made by petition to be granted on pain of compul- 
sion, a day was limited for final answer — that day ai-rived, 

# 1 McMahon'sMd. 350-3. f Idem 342. :t J March, A. D. 1766. 



^ 



20 

the Sons of Liberty Mere at their post. Frpni the urgency 
of the demand and the receipt of a written indemnification, 
tlie Provincial Court passed an order, at once conceded to 
by the other public officers, conformable to the petition, and 
the detested Stamp Act was in Maryland forever null and 
void.* 

Though the frequent colonial remonstrances to the mother 
country had been treated with scorn, and petition after pe- 
tition had been refused a heai ing, Parliament viewed with 
no small concern the sickening representations by their own 
merchants and manufacturers of the crippled state of their 
cherished trade, and could but regard with serious alarm, 
the official accounts of provincial affairs. Its repeal was 
demanded by the very considerations which prompted the 
imposition of the Stamp Act, and the loathsome monster 
was strangled by the very authors of its existence.! 

But to afford a salvo to the wounded pride of the nation 
thus compelled to retrace its steps, to recede from the prac- 
tice of a power so boldly claimed, its repeal was preceded 
by an act declaratory of full power and authority in the 
King and Parliament "to bind the colonies in all cases 
whatsoever," and the colonial resolves, assertive that the 
sole and exclusive right of taxation resided in the Provincial 
Assemblies, were declared derogatory to the authority of 
Parliament and inconsistent with the dependence of the 
colonists upon the Crown, and null and void.^ 

Though the repeal of the Stamp Act was hailed in Ameri- 
ca with transport and acclamation, the reasserting of the 
right whose practice had been and ever would be opposed 
as often as attempted, was viewed with mingled emotions 
of indignation and regret. Tranquility and harmony were 
indeed restored, but restored with bodings of their transient 
continuance, and that confidence wiiich iiad not yet been re- 
gained, was destined soon to receive a greater blow. 
Though the bold assertor of American privileges, the able 
defender of constitutional rights, was j)laced at the iiead of 
a ministry of his own choice, his administration was as 
jarring as the materials of which it was composed, were dis- 
cordant in the extreme. '■'Wlien his face was hid hut for a 
moment his rvhole system was on a wide sea without chart or 
compass.^'§ The first session had not rolled away ere the 

• 1 McMahon's Md,. 360. f 6 Geo III. c. 11. :| Resolution of General 
Conway, 1 Pitkin's U. S,, 457. § 2 Burke'e Works, 433. 



21 

same misguided spirit of extended rule was again displayed* 
To attain the same end by different means — ''to draw a re- 
venue from America without giving offence," was the boasted 
intention of a member of that anomalous ministry. The 
duty act which he proposed, was passed,* and by its passage 
the system of parliamentary taxation was resumed. It was 
accompanied by acts for rigid execution of the laws of trade, 
and inflicting penalties upon New York for disobedience to 
parliamentary requisitions-! And thus, while the British 
power had been unequal to the enforcement of one act of 
usurpation, colonial endurance of all these was to be re- 
quired. >,^^ 

The colonists regarded these acts with indignation the 
more violent, as proving that the spirit of encroachment had 
but gained strength by inaction, as a headstrong return to j^ 
this system with a full knowledge of the consequences, as m 
evincing a settled purpose to annihilate their rights, and " 
that by an artifice as shallow as it was futile. Popular 
feeling could not be restrained. In the Province of Massa- 
cliusetts the powers of government, of which the people had 
been debarred the exercise, were resumed, and the acts of 
Parliament openly opposed, while frequent collisions be- 
tween the citizens and the British soldiery were the result 
— collisions the more lamented because of the fatal conse- 
quences which ultimately ensued. The Assembly of that 
Province, in a circular to her sister colonies, :j: in the firm- 
est tone denied the power of Parliameni to pass those acts, 
with a mighty eloquence pourtrayed the consequences of 
submission to their illegality, with heart stirring appeals 
invoked all lovers of Country, of Liberty, of Constitutional 
Rights to unite in opposition. The appeal was not made 
in vain. Unity of purpose, and concert of action — the 
mighty principles of defence against tyrannical encroach- 
ments as against hostile arms, were the result. 

But how differently was that paper viewed in England! 
Regarded as of dangerous and factious tendency, calculated 
to inflame the min:ls of the colonists, to promote unwarran- 
table combinations, to subvert the true principles of the 
British constitution, the House of Representatives whence 
it issued were ordered to rescind the resolution which gave 
it birth, § and refusing this were dissolved, while the Assem- 

* 7 Geo. 3. c, 46. f 7 Geo. 3. c 41. 8 Geo. 3. c. 22. t 1 Pitkin's U. S. 
458. § Lord Hillsborough's Letter to Gov. Bernard, 22, April, 1767. Re- 
solutions of House of Lords, December 1768. 1 Pitkin's U. S. 463. 



( 



22 

blies to whom it was addressed were required on pain of 
like penalty to take no notice of it but treat it with con- 
tempt.* To the noble reply of the Lower House of Assembly 
of Maryland to the message of Governor Sharpe, we may 
recur with pride, to evidence the free and fearless spirit of 
our ancestors. ^'We hope (say they) the conduct of this 
House will ever evince their reverence and respect for the 
laws and faithful attachment to the constitution, but we 
cannot be brought to resent an exertion of the most un- 
doubted constitutional right of petitioning the throne, or 
any endeavors to procure an union of the colonies as an un- 
justifiable attempt to revive those distractions which it is 
said have operated so fatally to the prejudice of both the 
colonies and the mother country. We have the warmest 
and most affectionate attachment to our most gracious sove- 
reign, and shall ever pay the readiest and most respectful 
regard to the just and constitutional power of the British 
Parliament, but we shall not be intimidated by a few sound- 
ing expressions from doing what we think is right. And 
of this be pleased to be assured, that we cannot be prevailed 
on to take no notice of, or to treat with the least degree of 
contempt, a letter so expressive of duty and loyalty to the 
sovereign and so replete with just principles of liberty, and 
your excellency may depend, that whenever we apprehend 
the rights of the people to be affected we shall not fail bold- 
ly to assert and steadily endeavour to maintain and support 
them."t 

On the following day a reply was made to the circular, 
embodying an explicit avowal of full concurrence with the 
Lower House of Assembly of Massacliusetts in the declara- 
tion, that those acts of Parliament 'Mo infringe the great 
and fundamental principle" upon which the right of taxation 
is based. This reply brought down upon them the impend- 
ing penalty, but not before the adoption of resolutions dis- 
playing the whole matters at issue in the clearest light — re- 
solutions to which we may recur as a lucid exposition of 
colonial rights, and a convincing evidence of the lirm prin- 
ciples and commanding abilities of the men to whom was 
then committed the peculiar care of the Province. 

The action of Parliament of 1769, served but to raise the 
already excited colonists to a still higher degree of indigna- 
tion, and to confirm the spirit of opposition. The most 



• Circular to Provincial GovernoiT. f Address of 23 June, 1768. 



23 

complete approval of ministerial conduct — tlie strongest as- 
surance of support in like measures — the avowed determi- 
nation to enforce against the colony of Massachusetts, the 
penalties of treason, by the British law* — by a British 
jury — upon the British soil — for daring to resist parliamen- 
tary usurpation, — tijesewere so many indications of a design 
not to be mistaken. But they served not to intimidate — 
they emboldened the colonists in tiic sn})port of right. The 
power to counteract the measures of parliament was in 
their hands, and they failed not to use it. Non-importation 
agreements had ever been an engine of colonial rights, as 
efficient as it was simple. They had mitigated the severities 
of the restrictive system by reducing the occasions of its 
exercise — they had effected British commerce by complete- 
ly turning the current of British trade — they had changed 
the course of legislation by defeating its intention and dis- 
closing its impolicy — they had damped the ardor of tyran- 
nical encroachmenc, by rendering its efforts abortive. In 
Maryland, the Association for the whole Province,! pre- 
ceded by County Associations of similar character and 
like tendency, was founded upon the necessity of com- 
bined action, to accomplish the repeal of the duty act, by 
counteracting its effects. The Associatoi-s bound themselves 
to each other "by the sacred ties of honour and reputation, 
neither to import or puichase any article then taxed, or 
which should thereafter be taxed by Parliament, for the 
purpose of revenue; but these were not its only provisions, 
it contained an agreement not to import or use, as unneces- 
sary superfluities, a variety of articles of English growth 
and manufacture, the exclusion of which gave a shock to 
British trade.^: 

The combined action of the colonies, in means like these, 
could but be felt: the commercial relations of the two coun- 
tries were too intimate — tiieir mutual dependence too com- 
plete, nrt to be affected. Parliament was once more forced 
to retrace its steps, but experience of its error enlightened 
not their rule of action; a repeal was made of all the duties 
but one — that on tea being retained as a declaration of the 
supremacy of Parliament, an avowal deemed stronger than 
words of her right to that power, whose further exercise for 
commercial reasons she declined. Thus it was conceived, 
the great ground of opposition was removed by the repeal 

"Statute 35, Henry VIII. f Formed at Annapolis, 20 June, 1769. 
i Maryland Gazette, 29 June, 1769. 1 McMahon's Md. 377. 



24 

of the more onerous provisions of the act. But that Minis- 
ter whose proposal this was, and that Parliament whose 
enactment gave it binding force, appreciated American char- 
acter as little as they valued American rights. For prin- 
ciple the colonists had combated, for principle had they dis- 
puted every inch of ground invaded by the foot of the 
usurper, and victory after victory had rewarded their efforts. 
And would they yield them now? Would they sully their 
fair fame by a desertion as fatal to their liberties as (dero- 
gatory to the high character they had achieved? Honour, 
Country, Liberty returned an indignant negative! 

While among the foremost in resistance to foieign en- 
croachments, the colonists of Maryland regarded with 
jealous watchfulness their internal government. A deep 
and engrossing controversy now engaged their attention — 
a controversy for a right, deservedly held dear — a right, 
for whose support England's power was encountered. 
Thotigii the Proprietary appoijited all officers of the Pro- 
vince,* the people, through the conceded power of the As- 
sembly to establish the fees of office by law, held a whole- 
some check upon the recipients of proprietary favor; of the 
utility of its possession they had ample proof in their own 
experience; of the efficiency of a similar power, in resisting 
encroachment, their ancestrel history afforded a striking 
test. Acting immediately upon the sovereign himself, the 
power of granting and refusing supplies, Wcts ever essential 
to the exercise of the rights, if not to the very existence of 
the Commons of England. In the contest for free princi- 
ples during the reign of the first James, the benefits of this 
cherished power were appreciated, as its influence w as then 
chiefly felt. Under its quiet but powerful agency, the pleni- 
tude of the "divine right of Kings," became a mere *'fcrM- 
tum f'ldmen,*^ and the precedents for unbounded exercise of 
prerogative dra'vn from the lines of Tudor and Plantage- 
net were appealed to in vain. Such a power, capable of 
such exercise, had the colonists secured them by earliest 
legislation, in the establishment of fees of office by law. f 
Enacted but for a specified period, frequent renew als and mo- 
difications had from time to time been made as deemed requi- 
site. At the first session of 1770, the fee bill of 1763, about 
to expire, came before the Assembly for its action. Disa- 
greements between tlie two branches were found to exist in 



» 7 Art. Charter of Md. f Act of Assembly, 1638, ch, 2, sec. 9. 



25 

relation to its provisions, and compromise impracticable 
the Assembly was prorogued. Governor Eden then under- 
took to supply by proclamation,* what legislation had left 
uudone— to re-establish the fee bill of 1763, to afford com- 
pensation to tlie officers of the Province. Tlie very act to 
which the people through their Representatives, had refus- 
ed existence, was attempted to be revived by means the 
more odious, because in face of forevvarnings of resistance. 
The Assembly of the following year, met this question upon 
the same high ground of principle from which they had ne- 
ver swerved : and their address to the Governor teaches 
the wholesome lesson that resistance to the beginnings of 
arbitrary power from whatever source, is the only pledge 
of permanency to Liberty ! "This proclamation (say 
''they) ought to be abhorred. For who are a Free Peo- 
^^ple? Not those over whom government is reasonably 
''and equitably exercised, but those who live under a 
"government so constitutionally checked and controll- 
"ed, tliat proper provision is made against its being 
"otherwise exercised. This act of power is founded on 
"the destruction of constitutional security. If the pro- 
*'clamation may rightfully regulate the fees, it has a right 
"to fix any other quantum. If it has a right to regulate, 
"it has a right to regulate to a million, for where does its 
"right stop ? To attempt to limit the right after granting 
" it to exist at all, is contrary to justice. If it has a right 
^'to tax us, then whether our money shall continue in our 
*'own pockets depends no longer on us but on the preroga- 
"tive."f Never was a measure of polity more thorough- 
ly examined or more ably discussed. Upon its motives, its 
character, its expediency, its results, every tongue was fer- 
vid, every heart fired. It engaged the abilities of Mary- 
land's greatest S!)ns. As an ad interim power derivable 
from the chartered right of the Proprietary to make fit and 
wholesome ordinances for the general government of the 
Province,]: its expediency was defended, its constitutionali- 
ty upheld, and the proclamation found an advocate in the 
person of Da.nikl Dul\ny. A» an untenable usurpation 
and gross assumption of powers, guaranteed by the charter 
to the Legislature, and sanctioned and confirmed by the 

* Proclamation 26 Nov. 1770. f Journals House of Del. 22 Nov. 1771. 
i 8 Art, CharttT of Maryland. 

4 



( 



26 

rroprictary, in solemn enactments, popular rights had their 
champion in Charles Carroll, of Carrollton^. The 
powers of the combatants is a pledge for the conduct of the 
contest! Each had been markcc! as able supporters of co- 
lonial liberties — each held a high place in the affections of 
the people. That people were to pass judgment upon the 
act, and that judgment was to be the arbiter. In tlic exer- 
cise of the elective franchise, the measure fell under the 
ban of their disapprobation, and high and joyous were the 
celebrations of victory;* but the proclamation yet survived 
till merged in the absorbing causes of the Revolution. 

The voluntary associations of the colonists had been so 
faithfully regarded, that very little tea upon which alone the 
duty had been retained by Parliament, was imported into 
the colonies. T!ie trade of the East India Company had 
thus become stagnant, and to relieve their embarrassment, 
as M'ell as practically to enfoice the power of taxation, 
Parliament allowed that company to export teas to America, 
with a drawback of all the duties paid in England. f It 
was imagined that the people would readily pay the small 
duty imposed, as the tea was cheaper in the colonies than in 
England. But the people were not thus to be cajoled ; they 
adhered to their resolves — no duties were paid — no tea was 
consumed. Patriotic citizens with one accord resolved that 
the cargoes imported, should not be landed nor offered for 
sale, but should be returned without an entry at the Cus- 
tom House. And in Boston the departure of the vessels in- 
hibited by executive interposition, with the guns of the cas- 
tle at his command, the bold determination to destroy the 
obnoxious article itself, was formed and accomplished.^ — 
These proceedings are of tlie more interest, because they 
form a promiiient sera in the histoiy of parliamentary en- 
croachment. Charged with having been done with a view 
of obstructing the commerce, and subverting the Constitu- 
tion of England, Parliament pi'ovcd their resesitmcnt by the 
adoption of measures for securing the execution of the laws 
an(l the dependence of the colonies. A bill interdicting all 
commercial intercourse with the town of Boston, as a port 
of entry or discharge, was the result of their unwise legis- 
lation. But their resentment did not stop here; the char- 

• I McMabon, 381-396. Maryland Gazette, May 1773. f 7 Geo. Ill, c. 56. 
i Pitkins'3 U. S., 263-4. 



27 

ter of the Province, that solemn compact with the Crown 
was the next propitiatory sacrifice, aye, even at tlie expense 
of violated public faith, — a whole people were made to suf- 
fer — the regulation of their government usurped, the ap- 
pointment of high officers taken from their Assembly, to be 
made by the Crown — the Judiciai-y to be appointed and re- 
moved by the Governor, the mere creature of the King — ■ 
the power of the people to be unfelt and their will unheed- 
ed — the free institutions under which they had lived and 
found happiness and peace utterly subverted — the proud 
birthright of freemen never before disputed — the right to 
meet together as men, as citizens, as brethren to take coun- 
sel together, even this was denied them, and lest in all thig 
public liberty should yet survive, the firmest support of 
their properties and their lives to which they had clung in 
the darkest hour, was swept away in this Maelstrom of ty- 
rannic power!* 

The crying injustice, tlie despotic illegality of these 
edicts met with one burst of indignant opposition from every 
quarter. In the universal sympathy for the devoted suffer- 
ers in the cause of America, in active measures of relief to 
them, and in the most determined energy wherewith to 
meet the crisis, Maryland largely partici])ated. The vio- 
lence of these assaults demanded of her the most unexam- 
pled measures of resistance. A convention to whose espe- 
cial guardianship and protection the rights, the liberties, 
the public safety should be committed was proposed, and 
convened.! Of the character of the men who then upheld 
the fabric of freedom when threatened witii desolation, their 
recorded acts are the best evidence, and to their pages may 
every Marylander, every American, every Freeman, recur 
with pride and exultation. With indignation were the 
invasions of the rights of their sister colony condemned, and 
the declaration that "those acts if not r-epcaled wouhl lay a 
foundation for the utter destruction of British America," was 
followed by a resolution that "the Province of Maryland 
would join in an association with the other colonies to stop 
all exportations to and importations from Great Britain, as 
the most speedy and effectual means to obtain Iheir repeal." 
And to effect one general plan of conduct operating on the 
commercial relations of tlie two countries, binding themselves 

• 14 Geo. Ill, c. f 22 June, 1774. 



( 



28 

to execute to the uttermost whatever might be adopted, a ge- 
iierai Congress of the colonies was proposed.* 

The resolves of this convention indicate the manly spirit 
and abiding love of constitutional freedom which marked 
the character of the State. An occasion soon offcied for an 
exemplary exercise of the heroic virtue of her citizens, and 
it was met in a manner worthy of their high character, wor- 
thy of the glorious contest in wjiich they bad embarked, 
wortliy of the incalculable interests involved in its issue. — 
In spite of the events at Boston, the importation of tea was 
attettipted in less than twelve months after, and Maryland 
^vas the province, and Annapolis the port of its destination. 
It formed a small portion of the cargo of the brig Peggy 
_ Stewart, which arrived in the harbour 14 October, 1774* 
The bold decision of the citizens who at once resolved that 
the tea should not be landed, preserved inviolate the Asso- 
ciation in which they had united, — the destruction of the tea 
itself was next determined, but more complete atonement 
was demanded, while to secure his personal safety, the own- 
er of the vessel anticipated the act of the community, and 
with his own hand applied the torch while an assembled peo- 
ple, in the broad face of day, stood around and witnessed 
the sacrifice they had compelled, and acknowledged the suf- 
ficiency of the expiation. Here was no attempt at evasion 
of the high responsibility tlicy had courted, — here was no 
desire to rid themselves of the risk they had incurred. Pub- 
licly; disdaining concealment, openly and avowedly, with 
premeditation and determined purpose they compelled the 
act they stood by ready at all hazards to perform. f A eon- 
temned community, — a violated charter — invaded liberties 
demanded the act and it was done ! 

The Congress of 1774, while they asserted the rights:}: 
and proclaimed the wrongs of America, declared to the 
country and to the world, their remedy for the infliction of 
the one — their redress for the violation of the other. "By 
the sacred ties of Virtue. Honor and Love of Country," 
they resolved to relinquish for themselves and their consti- 
tuents, all the benefits of commercial intercourse with the 
Mother Country, until the obnoxious acts were repealed. 
And to leave no peaceable means of redress unapplied, they 
put forth petitions as loyal as fervid ; appeals as affection- 
ate as forcible, remonstrances as conciliatory as energetic, 



Conventions of Maryland, p. 3-5. -J- 1 McMahon's Md., 408. Maryland 
Gazette, 20 «& 27 Oct. 1774. 1 1 Story on the Constit., 179, n. 4. 



29 

to all the branches of Government of the Parent Country;* 
and at the same time to render the native resources of Ame- 
rica adequate to any contingency, the promotion of agricul- 
tural and domestic industry — the extension of tlie manufac- 
tures and the arts — the encouragement of economy and fru- 
gality — in one word, all that wise policy and enlarged views 
could devise or suggest were the efforts of the public spirit 
and enlightened wisdom of that body, than whom 

" Nor names more noble, graced the rolls ojfame^ 
When Spartan firmness hrav''d the ivrccks of time 
Or Rome's bold virtues J ann^l the heroic flame. " 

The unanimous approval of the proceedings of Congress 
by the Convention of Maryland, | was followed by a resolu- 
tion of strict and inviolable observance of the Association 
recommended, and by a unanimous determination that if 
the execution of the acts of Parliament relative to Massa- 
chusetts be attempted to be carried into execution by force, 
or if the assumed power to tax the colonies be attempted to 
be carried into execution by force in that or any other co- 
lony, tliat in such case the Province of Maryland will sup- 
port such colony to the utmost of their po\ver,:|; and with 
like unanimity they sought to enlist all in the common de- 
fence, and their invocation to their fellow-citizens, worthy to 
be written in letters of gold, breathes a spirit of devotion 
to country, unsurpassed by the annals of any age or any 
nation. *'As our opposition to the settled plan of the T?ri- 
"tisli Administration to enslave America, will be strength- 
''ened by an union of all ranks of men in this province, 
''we do most earnestly recommend that all former differ- 
"enccs about religion or politics, and all private animosi- 
*'ti«s of every kind from henceforth cease, and be for ever 
''buried in oblivion. And we entreat, we conjure every 
"man by his duty to God, his Country and his Posterity, 
" cordially to unite in defence of our common rights and 
"liberties."^ 

But however wisely counselled or well executed were 
colonial measures they were unequal to change the course of 
an infatuated ministry and an irritated Parliament: In the 
lust of power they had concerted their projects — in the 
plenitude of their pride they looked to see them executed, 
and when opposition checked, and firm resistance retarded 
their encroachments, they sought only adequate means of 

» 1 Pitkin's U. S„ 473. f Conventions of Maryland, p, 6, 4 Idem, p. 7-8. 
§ Idem, p, 10. 



30 

their enforcement. The first step taken, the gradations of 
tyranny were easy — the more oppressive measures for com- 
pnlsion were but ready consequences of conscious infliction 
of unmerited wrong, for as with men so with nations — 

'■'Proprium humani est odisse quern Iceseris.^'* 

They indignantly refused a heai-ing to petitions for redress 
. — proposition after proposition to reconcile difficulties by 
acknowledging their eri'or and retracijig their steps, pride 
would not toleiate, while united opposition in America but 
produced an obstinate adherence to ill advised measures and 
a fatal extension of arbitrary encroachment. The colony 
of Massachusetts was declared in a state of rebellion, while 
forcible maintenance of the acts which had lashed them in- 
to fury was avowed. The colonies who had countenanced 
Massachusetts in resistance to usurpation were next made 
to suffer — tiiey had aided and abetted, and as accessories 
were doomed to like ignominious punishment as the princi- 
pal in the treason. * 

The colonists of Massachusetts, as they were the greater 
sufferers by arbitrary exactions, so were they the first vic- 
tims of their barbarous enforcement. The battle of Lex- 
ington summoned them to redeem that pledge they had so 
often, and so boldly given to hazard their lives, in defence 
of tlie principles they had avowed, and they redeemed that 
pledge nobly. The shedding of Ameiican blood ai'oused 
the United Colonies to arms. Congress again met and 
operations of defence were commenced with vigor. But 
even f/ie7i when the blood of tlieir brethren, slain in defence 
of their common liberties, was crying from the ground for 
vengeance, even then did they pray for the restoration of 
harmony and mutual affection, even then did they petition at 
the hands of their British brethren the rights of descendants 
of their brave and virtuous ancestors of England, even then 
did they avow that at independence they did not aim, even 
then did they lament the wounds which self defence caused 
to be inflicted, and by all the ties of common ancestry and 
of common name, of common language, and of common blood, 
did they invoke them to stay the arm of tyranny! 

"SVith this, their last appeal to Great Britain, the army 
of the Revolution was organized, and the future Father of 
his Country placed in its command, f with more than the 

• Holmes' Ann, A. D, 1775. -j- Secret Jour, of Cong. vol. 1. p. 18. 



31 

primitive vii'tue and patriotism of the consular injunction 
of ancient Rome — 

"iVe quid detrimenti Respublica capiat.'''' 
The causes which led them to take up arms were proclaim- 
ed to the world. "We are reduced (say they) to the alter- 
native of choosing between unconditional submission to the 
tyranny of irritated ministers or resistance by force. The 
latter is our choice. We have counted the cost of this con- 
test, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery. 
Our cause is just — our union is perfect — our internal re- 
sources are great. We fight not for glory or for conquest. 
In our own native land in defence of the freedom that is our 
birth right, and which we ever enjoyed till the late viola- 
tion of it, for the protection of our property acquired solely 
by the honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves, 
against violence actually offered we have taken up arms. 
We shall lay them down, wiien hostilities shall cease on the 
part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renew- 
ed and not before." '^ 

Maryland now threw off the Proprietary power and as- 
sumed a provisional government for hei-self, which should 
allow the unrestrained action of her every effort. Her 
citizens "united and associated as one band, and firmly and 
solemnly engaged and pledged to each other and to Ameri- 
ca," to the utmost of their power, to promote and support 
the high objects in whose defence they had embarked. + 
The most energetic executive control was placed in t!ie 
hands of committees of safety, appointed by the convention, 
while the most rigid system of internal police — the most 
efficient organization of the military power was adopted — 
the most adequate ])rotection to the riglits and properties of 
her citizens secured. Limited in her opposition to tyran- 
nical encraachments alone, slie contemplated not the extinc- 
tion of the controlling power of the niotlier country, — to 
maintain her freedom, the height of her ambition, siiK 
AIMED NOT AT INDEPENDENCE.:]; In the midst of her firm 
support to all measures deemed proper for the defence and 
preservation of the colonial liberties and the public welfare, 
she had yet nothing so much at heart as a happy reconcilia- 
tion with the mother country, upon the firm basis of consti- 



1 Pitkin's U. S. p. 335-6. f Association of the Freemen of Md., 
26 July, 1775, Vide Conventions of Md. p 19. \ Instructions of Con- 
vention to Deputies in Congress, 13 January, 1776, renewed 31 May, 
1776. Conventionsof Md. p. 82, 140-2. 




32 

014 366 655 4# 

tutional freedom, and regarding such reconciliation as her 
highest felicity, so did she view the fatal necessity of sepa- 
rating from her as a misfortune next to tlie greatest that 
could befalher.* And separation was resolved upon,f only 
when reconciliation was put beyond the power of hope. 
The petition of Congress again refused a hearing — the 
colonies declared in open rebellion — their citizens public 
enemies to be coerced into submission — tlieir property con- 
fiscated wherever seized, and themselves wherever captur- 
ed, compelled under pain of death to take arms against their 
brethren and their native land — in one word, the essential 
securities of their properties, their liberties and their lives 
utterly broken down — the crisis had arrived from which 
there was no retreat — no alternative. Our Countrtfs Inde- 
pendence was declared, that Liberty might be preserved. 

[The Declaration of Independence 'vas here read by Mr. William H. G. 
DonsET, a Member of the Association.] 

And while the confederated colonies were thus declaring 
themselves free a^d independent States, Maryland, in her 
separate sovereignty, absolved herself from all allegiance 
to the British Crown,:}: and the present Constitution of the 
State was established. 

In "the thousand heavy times" of the Revolution, Ma- 
ryland stood foremost in the defence. The wisdom of her 
sons shone conspicuous in the councils of the nation, as their 
valor told in mftny a well fought field. Side by side, with 
patriots of evei'y State, her sons unbared their bosoms 
and shed their blood for liberty and their native land! 

While thus on this spot, hallowed by the noble act which 
consummated the history of the Revolution, we recur to the 
actions of our Fathers with filial piety, and in the full frui- 
tion of the prosperity and happiness they have transmitted 
to us, our hearts swell with gratitude towards them, let 
every such holy emotion be elevated to that Source whence 
all our blessings flow, to ^^ Him xvho holds the destinies of 
nations as in the hollow of his hand.^' Whether, therefore, 
we reflect upon the past history of our beloved country, or 
daringly attempting to invade the regions ftf futurity, anti- 
cipate its pi'ogressive development of every attribute of a 
free and mighty people, ourjervid ejaculation bursting from 
hearts overflowing with gratitude to him, will ever be, 
"£?e hath not dealt so with any nationP^ 

* Unanimous Declaration of 18 Jan. 1776, Conventions of Md. p. 119. 
f Instructions to Dep. in Congress, 28 June, 1776 Conv ot Md. p. 175. 
+ Declaration of the Del. of Md. 6 July, 1776. Conven. of Md. p. 201. 



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